Grace arrested after altercation

Gators - The Beat

Florida redshirt freshman Dawayne Grace was arrested by Gainesville police early Sunday morning after an altercation outside a set of bars near campus.

Grace, 19, was charged with violating a city ordinance and disorderly conduct. According to a police report, eyewitnesses saw Grace throw a punch after officers instructed him to leave the scene of a confrontation.

Coach Urban Meyer said Monday that Grace will not travel to Baton Rouge for this weekend's game with LSU and would be suspended until the matter is resolved.

Grace, a backup cornerback, had not played a snap for the Gators through six games this season. He spent last year on the scout team.

The arrest is the first dent in Meyer's quest to get his players to, in his words, "live right." And it hurts the image of the program, which, since Meyer took over in December, had remained clear of problems with the law.

Death Valley no big deal

A great majority of college football players would rank LSU's Death Valley among the toughest venues to visit. Don't count Jarvis Herring as one of them.

Herring, who believes Florida Field provides the best home-field advantage in the game, said playing a big game in Baton Rouge won't rattle him one bit. Neither, he continued, would a game at Tennessee, Auburn or anywhere else in the SEC.

"It's the team," Herring said, "not the place."

Meyer responds to column

Monday, Meyer responded to a column in Sunday's Florida Times-Union of Jacksonville that labeled him a liar after he failed last week to disclose injury information about Chris Leak, DeShawn Wynn and Jemalle Cornelius.

"I have a major obligation to the safety and well-being of our players," he said.

Reporting the information, he said, would have placed the players in more danger of aggravating the injuries.